lancashire · 2019-01-31 · oxford archaeology north (oa north) would like to thank ian marfleet...

Hargreaves’Warehouse,

Church,

Accrington,

Lancashire

Heritage Appraisal

Oxford Archaeology North

February 2011

Hyndburn Borough Council

Issue No: 2010-11/1169OA North Job No: L10320NGR: SD 74260 28551

Hargreaves’ Warehouse, Church, Accrington: Heritage Appraisal 1

For the use of Hyndburn Borough Council © OA North: February 2011

CONTENTS

SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................3

1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................4

1.1 Circumstances of the Project ..........................................................................4

1.2 Location, Landscape and Geology..................................................................4

1.3 Church Canalside Conservation Area.............................................................5

1.4 Legislative Framework ...................................................................................6

2. METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................8

2.1 Objectives .......................................................................................................8

2.2 Defining Significance .....................................................................................8

3. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................10

3.1 Introduction...................................................................................................10

3.2 Background to Church..................................................................................10

3.3 The Growth of the Textile Industry in East Lancashire................................12

3.4 Background to Textile Warehouses..............................................................13

3.5 Background to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal ............................................14

3.6 Development of Hargreaves’ Warehouse.....................................................15

4. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................17

4.1 Introduction...................................................................................................17

4.2 Hargreaves’ Warehouse................................................................................17

5. ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE ............................................................................24

5.1 Introduction...................................................................................................24

5.2 Statement of Significance .............................................................................24

6. CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................27

6.1 Conclusion ....................................................................................................27

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................28

ILLUSTRATIONS ..........................................................................................................31



SUMMARY

In December 2011, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned byLambert Smith Hampton, acting on behalf of Hyndburn Borough Council, to assessthe archaeological significance and produce a heritage appraisal of a substantial, four-storey canal-side building known as Hargreaves’ Warehouse. The building liesbetween the southern bank of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and Blackburn Road inChurch, some 1.8km to the west of Accrington, Lancashire (centred on NGR SD74260 28551).

The building lies a short distance to the south-west of the town centre, in the heart ofthe Church Canalside Conservation Area. This incorporates the historic core ofChurch together with the canal corridor, including the Aspen Valley area ofOswaldtwistle. The designated area is characterised to a large extent by industrialstructures dating to the Georgian era, which are dominated by the canal, its associatedbridges, the Commercial Inn, and Hargreaves’ Warehouse. The warehouse also hasstatutory designation as a Grade II listed building and, as such, is considered to be ofregional importance in its own right.

The relative significance of the building has been considered with reference to thefour areas of heritage values outlined by English Heritage in their ConservationPrinciples Policies and Guidance, and the Secretary of State’s criteria for assessingthe national importance of monuments. The results of the heritage appraisal concludethat the building is of considerable architectural and historic significance, not least asa rare example of a canal-side warehouse dating to the mid-1830s, and makes animportant contribution to the setting, character and appearance of the ChurchCanalside Conservation Area.

Any future proposals for the development of the site should be accompanied by anappropriately detailed assessment of the impact of those proposals upon the historicinterest of the building and its setting, with a presumption in favour of thepreservation and enhancement of the structure. In particular, the retention of thenorth-facing elevations and the yard as an open area are especially important to thehistoric character of the canal. In addition, a detailed archaeological survey of thebuilding, commensurate with an English Heritage Level II-type survey, is likely to berequired as a condition of Conservation Area Consent to any proposals fordevelopment.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) would like to thank Ian Marfleet of HyndburnBorough Council for commissioning and supporting the project. Thanks are alsoexpressed to Carolyn Baker, the Conservation Officer for Hyndburn, for her supportand advice. OA North is also grateful to Nick Mills of Lambert Smith Hampton forhis support.

The report was compiled by Ian Miller, and was edited by Alison Plummer.



1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PROJECT

1.1.1 In December 2011, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissionedby Lambert Smith Hampton, acting on behalf of Hyndburn Borough Council,to assess the archaeological significance and produce a heritage appraisal ofthe former Hargreaves’ Warehouse in Church. The study was required toprovide an archaeological perspective on the significance of the building, andto inform a Planning Viability Study that is being prepared for the area.

1.2 LOCATION , LANDSCAPE AND GEOLOGY

1.2.1 Church lies on the western edge of the Pennines in East Lancashire, and issituated some 1.8km to the west of Accrington, in the borough of Hyndburn.The warehouse is located on the southern bank of the Leeds and LiverpoolCanal, and on the north side of Blackburn Road (centred on NGR SD 7426028551). It is bounded to the east and west by Bridge Street and CommercialStreet (Plate 1).

Plate 1: Aerial view of the study area, looking north, with arrow pointing to the warehouse

1.2.2 The landscape character of Church, as classified by Lancashire CountyCouncil, comprises ‘Ancient and Post-medieval Settlement’, ‘ModernSettlement’ and ‘Modern Recreation’. Hargreaves’ Warehouse lies within thearea classified as ‘Ancient and Post-medieval Settlement’, the definingcomponents of which include ‘a wide range of buildings, open space and thecourse of the road systems and public rights of way’ (Lancashire CountyCouncil 2002, 149-50).



1.3 CHURCH CANALSIDE CONSERVATION AREA

1.3.1 Hargreaves’ Warehouse lies in the heart of the Church Canalside ConservationArea, which was designated in November 2001, and incorporates the historiccore of Church together with the canal corridor to the west, including theAspen Valley area of Oswaldtwistle (Plate 2). The Conservation Area isfocused on the corridor of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal as it passes thewestern side of Church, and displays an historic character defined to a largeextent by industrial structures dating to the Georgian era (Hyndburn BoroughCouncil 2008, 8). This includes the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and itsassociated bridges, the Commercial Inn, and Hargreaves’ Warehouse.

Plate 2: Aerial view showing the Church Canalside Conservation Area (boundary of 2008),looking south, with arrow marking Hargreaves’ Warehouse



1.4 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

1.4.1 National planning polices on the conservation of the historic environment areset out in Planning Policy Statement PPS 5 Planning for the HistoricEnvironment, which was published by the Department for Communities andLocal Government (DCLG) in March 2010. The policies set out in PPS 5 alsoapply to the consideration of the historic environment in relation to otherheritage-related consent regimes for which planning authorities are responsibleunder the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.Annex 2 of PPS 5 defines as a heritage asset ‘a building, monument, site,place, area or landscape positively identified as having a degree ofsignificance meriting consideration in planning decisions’; heritage assets arealso defined as ‘valued components of the historic environment’.

1.4.2 In summary, PPS 5 provides a framework that:

• requires applicants to provide proportionate information on heritageassets affected by the proposals, and an assessment of the impact of theproposed development on the significance of the heritage asset;

• has a presumption in favour of the conservation of designated HeritageAssets, which include World Heritage Sites, Scheduled Monuments,Listed Buildings, Protected Wreck Sites, Registered Parks andGardens, Registered Battlefields or Conservation Areas;

• protects the settings of such designated heritage assets;

• takes into account the desirability of sustaining and enhancing thesignificance of heritage assets;

• where the loss of whole or part of a heritage asset’s significance isjustified, provides for the recording of assets and for publication of theresulting evidence.

1.4.3 Paragraph 6 of PPS 5 stresses that planning has a key role to play inconserving heritage assets, and utilising the historic environment in creatingsustainable places. The guidance sets out the Government’s overarching aim toconserve heritage assets and make them available to be enjoyed for the qualityof life they bring to this and future generations. However, Paragraph 7 of PPS5recognises that managed change may sometimes be necessary if heritageassets are to be maintained for the long term and, local planning authoritiesshould also take account of the wider social, cultural, economic andenvironmental benefits of heritage conservation.

1.4.4 With reference to specific policies, PPS 5 Policy HE6.1 states that localplanning authorities ‘should require an applicant to provide a description ofthe significance of the heritage assets affected and the contribution of theirsetting to that significance’. Policy HE6.1 also recommends that ‘where anapplication site includes, or is considered to have the potential to include,heritage assets with archaeological interest, local planning authorities shouldrequire developers to submit an appropriate desk-based assessment and, wheredesk-based research is insufficient to properly assess the interest, a fieldevaluation’.



1.4.5 Policy HE7.2 states that in considering the impact of a proposal on anyheritage asset, local planning authorities should take into account the particularnature of the significance of the heritage asset, and the value that it holds forthis and future generations.

1.4.6 Policy and Guidance Relating to Conservation Areas: Section 69 of thePlanning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, places a duty onlocal planning authorities to designate as Conservation Areas any ‘areas ofspecial architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which itis desirable to preserve or enhance’.

1.4.7 Guidance on the designation procedures set out in Guidance on theManagement of Conservation Areas (English Heritage 2006) states that‘deciding which areas are of ‘special architectural or historic interest isultimately a matter for the judgement of local authorities’, but that ‘theassessment of an area’s special interest should be made against local (district-wide) criteria, and that local distinctiveness, community value and‘specialness’ in the local or regional context should be recognised in drawingup these criteria’, in order that a ‘consistent and objective approach’ is takenwhen ‘considering the extent and adequacy of designation across theirdistricts’.



2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 OBJECTIVES

2.1.1 The principal objective of the Heritage Appraisal was to provide anarchaeological perspective on the relative significance of Hargreaves’Warehouse, and to allow an informed decision to be taken with regard to itsfuture. This was achieved by carrying out desk-based research coupled with avisual inspection survey of the building and its environs, which wasundertaken in December 2010. The visual inspection was intended to providethe minimum of information needed to identify the building’s age, type, broadchronological development, and, crucially, significance; it was not intended toprovide a detailed survey of the building.

2.2 DEFINING SIGNIFICANCE

2.2.1 When applied to an historic building, the term ‘significance’ can be taken tohave several definitions. The first is importance, suggesting that there issomething about the site that is valuable, has status and should not be ignored.A site may be important because it is a rare survival, or the earliest knownexample of its type. It may represent a benchmark in terms of the applicationof technological development, or be a typical example of such sites. The levelto which a site has remained intact is also an important factor in determiningits value. The next is the idea of conveying meaning, implying that the site is asource of knowledge. Finally, there is the concept of a sign, that the building issymbolic, and acts as a pointer to something beyond itself. The significance ofany site is to a large extent embodied in its surviving fabric, which can retainevidence for how the building developed and was adapted over time.

2.2.2 It is necessary to define what it is that gives significance to a building andtherefore warrants protection. Hargreaves’ Warehouse and its immediateenvirons encompass layers of archaeological and historical development,which may be valued for different reasons by different people, all of whichshould be taken into account in determining the overall significance. In theirConservation Principles Policies and Guidance, English Heritage haveidentified four areas of heritage values, which will be considered indetermining the overall significance of the building (English Heritage 2008):

• Evidential: this derives from the potential of a place to yield evidenceabout past human activity. This includes physical remains as theprimary source of evidence and the people and cultures that madethem. Significantly, where there is a lack of written records theimportance of the material record increases;

• Historical: this originates from the ways in which past people, eventsand aspects of life can be connected through a place to the present. Thismay include illustrative value, such as its connection to an importantdevelopment, such as technology, or associative value, such as theconnection to an important event or person;



• Aesthetic: this is derived from the ways in which people draw sensoryand intellectual stimulation from a place or building. These may berelated to the design of a place, for example, through defensive reasons,or the informal development over time, such as the relationship ofstructures to their setting;

• Communal: this derives from the meaning of a place for the peoplewho relate to it, this includes commemorative, symbolic, social andspiritual value. For example, some places may be important forreminding us of uncomfortable events in national history.

2.2.3 In determining the value of Hargreaves’ Warehouse as a heritage asset, it isalso useful to refer to the Secretary of State’s criteria for assessing the nationalimportance of monuments, as contained in Annexe 1 of the policy statement onscheduled monuments produced by the Department of Culture, Media, andSport (2010). These criteria relate to period, rarity, documentation, groupvalue, survival/condition, fragility/vulnerability, diversity, and potential.



3. BACKGROUND

3.1 INTRODUCTION

3.1.1 In order to facilitate an understanding of the significance of Hargreaves’Warehouse in a local and regional context, the following section focuses onproviding a summarised account of the development of the building. This ispreceded by an overview of the historical development of Church, the growthof the region’s textile industry, and the origins of the Leeds and LiverpoolCanal and its attendant warehouses.

3.2 BACKGROUND TO CHURCH

3.2.1 Place-name evidence for Church suggests some form of settlement in the areaduring the early medieval period (Ekwall 1922, 90). However, the firstarchival reference to the settlement of Church dates from 1192, when anUhtred de Chyrche is mentioned in documentary records (Bevan and Palmer1989, 23). The manorial centre of medieval Church was probably atPonthalgh, where the de Rishtons had their residence (Farrer and Brownbill1911, 400). There was a corn mill in Church by 1290 and, by 1574, a fullingmill had been established in the immediate vicinity, indicating the importanceof the sixteenth-century woollen industry (Stocks and Tait 1921, 69).

3.2.2 During the post-medieval period, a mixed economy evolved in Church, basedon sheep farming, the production of fustian goods, and some shallow miningof coal (Rothwell 1993, 48). However, increasing pressure on agricultural landduring the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries led to a growth of colonies ofhandloom weavers living in cottages with no land attached and where textileproduction was a full-time occupation (Ashmore 1969, 27).

3.2.3 The earliest known survey of Church is provided by a plan of the estates in thepossession of Lord Petre, which was produced in 1785 (LRO DDPt/25). It isclear from the detail provided by this survey that Church was moreindustrialised than the neighbouring settlement of Oswaldtwistle, and thattextile-manufacturing sites were beginning to dominate the landscape.

3.2.4 During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Church began to emerge as ahighly industrialised community, deriving from an expansion of factory-basedcalico printing together with the introduction of powered cotton spinning(Rothwell 1993, 4). A crucial factor in the expansion of the textile industrywas improvements in the local transport infrastructure. In particular, thecompletion of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal through Church in 1810 acted asa major stimulus to industrial expansion (Clarke 1994). Church also becamethe principal trans-shipment point for goods to and from Accrington andOswaldtwistle, which will have included the delivery of cotton bales fromLiverpool. This activity will have been focused on Hargreaves’ Warehouse,together with a wharf and cranes on Commercial Street and another canal-sidewarehouse that was built on Bridge Street in 1848 (Rothwell 1993, 59).



3.2.5 Roads were also an important element of the local communication network. Ahighway passing through Church and Oswaldtwistle along the line of UnionRoad was certainly well established by the late eighteenth century, and isdepicted on William Yates’ Map of the County Palatine of Lancaster, whichwas published in 1786. The only turnpike to be built through Church,however, was the Accrington branch of the Bury, Haslingden, Blackburn andWhalley Trust, which was promoted by the Poor Relief Committee and builtby Macadam in 1826 (Hogg 1971, 4). The route of this turnpike passed to thesouth of the village, but was immediately adjacent to the Leeds and LiverpoolCanal at the site occupied subsequently by Hargreaves’ Warehouse, creating arouteway node (op cit, 27).

3.2.6 The completion of railway lines linking Church and Accrington withBlackburn, Burnley and Manchester represented further improvement in thearea’s communications network. These lines were all opened by the EastLancashire Railway Company in 1848, and a rail terminus was established tothe west of Accrington town centre (Singleton 1928, 31).

3.2.7 Church also evolved in the nineteenth century as an important centre for thechemical industry, which was concerned primarily with the production of dyesand other substances required by the textile industry (OA North 2010). Severalof these works were established on the bank of the canal to the west ofChurch, as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1848 (Plate 3). JosephBarnes, one of Church’s pioneering chemical manufacturers, also controlled alarge proportion of the coal mining in the area, which developed considerablyafter the 1830s (Rothwell 1993, 48).

Plate 3: Extract from the 1848 Ordnance Survey map, with arrow pointing to the warehouse



3.3 THE GROWTH OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN EAST LANCASHIRE

3.3.1 The weaving of woollens and the production of linen were important trades inLancashire throughout the sixteenth century, when silk and mixed fabricsclassed as small wares and fustians started to gain popularity, with cottonfrequently forming the weft in the latter fabric (Wadsworth and Mann 1931,15). During the second half of the eighteenth century, the technical revolutionin the cotton-spinning industry was largely responsible for the dramaticchange to the economic and social structure of the region, and resulted in thetransformation of Lancashire from an isolated and predominantly rural regionto a textile-manufacturing centre of international repute. A significant steptowards the mechanisation of cotton spinning was the introduction in 1764 ofa machine that became known as the spinning jenny. The invention of thismachine is accredited to James Hargreaves of Stanhill, situated some 2.5km tothe south-west of Church. However, whilst it is tempting to associate the nameof this famous local pioneer of the textile industry with Hargreaves’Warehouse, there is no firm documentary evidence to support any such claim.

3.3.2 By the end of the eighteenth century, the area around Church and Accringtonsupported numerous water-powered textile mills. The area also emerged as animportant centre of a rapidly growing calico-printing trade, with importantworks being established at Broad Oak, Scaitcliffe, and Church Bank inAccrington, Foxhill Bank in Oswaldtwistle, several works in Clayton-le-Moors (Turnbull 1951). One of the earliest, however, was the BrooksideWorks near Oswaldtwistle, where hand-block calico printing was started byRobert Peel in c 1764, representing the genesis of what became the Peel textileempire. The Peel family also established the Church Bank Printworks inAccrington, which commenced in c 1772 (Graham 1846), and expandeddramatically to become the centre of Peel, Yates & Company's north-eastLancashire business (Ashmore 1969, 258).

3.3.3 Arguably the most important calico printworks in the area, however, was thatat Broad Oak in Accrington. This was founded in 1792 as bleaching crofts byTaylor, Fort, Bury & Co of Oakenshaw (Graham 1846, 356). In 1812, theworks were taken over by Thomas Hargreaves, previously a manager for theoriginal firm, and Adam Dugdale (Manchester Times 22 December 1893). Theworks expanded greatly after 1816, steam power was introduced, and newprint shops were erected. Adam Dugdale retired in c 1836, and the firmbecame Hargreaves Brothers & Co.

3.3.4 The firm achieved considerable commercial success and, in 1834-7,established a cotton spinning and weaving mill on Back Wellington Street inAccrington (OA North 2010). Known as Broad Oak Mill, this was one of themost impressive textile mills in Accrington. The construction of the mill wascontracted to John Rhodes, who arranged for the required stone to be broughtby tramroad from Higher Antley Quarry, near Accrington (Rothwell 1980). Itwas during these same years that Thomas and Robert Hargreavescommissioned the erection of the canal-side warehouse at Church, presumablyin part to handle the raw cotton delivered by canal from Liverpool that wouldbe required in their new Broad Oak Mill.



3.4 BACKGROUND TO TEXTILE WAREHOUSES

3.4.1 The function of a warehouse may be defined as providing ‘what is required,when it is required, in the condition which it is required, and to do all thesethings economically’ (Lloyd-Jones and Lewis 1988, 44). A large number ofwarehouses were built during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,designed to cater for all manner of goods. Amongst the earliest type were thecarriers’ warehouses, which developed from the mid-eighteenth century, andwere associated closely with the initial growth of the early industrialisedtowns in Lancashire. Their development was connected to improvements inthe transport infrastructure, notably the canals and later the railways. Mostwere of considerable proportions, representing some of the largest buildingserected at the time (Taylor et al 2002, 5).

3.4.2 It was common practice during the late eighteenth and early nineteenthcenturies for merchants to store goods in their houses. However, with adramatic expansion of the region’s industrial sector, and particularly textiles,many merchants converted their original houses into warehouses and businesspremises, and took up residence elsewhere. There is ample evidence of thistrend in early nineteenth-century Manchester, for instance (Aston 1816, 221).

3.4.3 The purpose-built merchants’ warehouse was introduced during the 1820s,and development took two forms: the home-trade warehouse stored goods forwholesale purchase by local shopkeepers; and the shipping warehouse thatstored large quantities of goods for bulk sale (Wilkinson 1982, 9). These earlywarehouses were generally plain and of utilitarian design, containing all thenecessary service facilities, but little or no embellishment. They did, however,incorporate new design features. Larger windows, for instance, became morecommon, and fewer loading points were fitted to the main elevations (Tayloret al 2002, 6). Typically, the internal floors were carried on wooden joists andcross beams, the beams supported by the external walls without theintermediate support of timber posts or cast-iron columns (Schofield 1902).

3.4.4 A variation of the purpose-built warehouse was the manufacturers’warehouse, which are a far more difficult sub-division of the trade to assess astheir requirements were so varied, and few such warehouses appear to haveconformed to a specific plan type. In general terms, however, such buildingswere of modest proportions. (Cooper 1991, 105).

3.4.5 Industrial growth across Lancashire during the 1830s stimulated a demand formore warehouses. In Manchester, for instance, the Market Street, MosleyStreet, Princess Street rating district contained 89 warehouses in 1820, but justnine years later the number had tripled (Farnie 1956, 326-7). During thisperiod, the purpose-built warehouse predominated, although a new class ofwarehouse had begun to emerge by the early 1840s. This was no longer aplain industrial building, but had a definite commercial character and wasoften handsomely decorated (Cooper 1991, 88). Most were between four- andfive-storeys high, and many incorporated a deep, naturally-lit, basement. Theground floor was normally raised above pavement level to accommodate thebasement, which housed the machinery required for processes such aspacking. Window openings tended to be closely-spaced to allow for



maximum natural light, and were generally fitted with sashes to provideventilation (ibid). This may be seen as a precursor to the palazzo-typewarehouse, which was introduced in the larger towns across Lancashireduring the late 1840s and 1850s. The design of these buildings was describedin 1861 by The Builder magazine, an arbiter of architectural taste, whichconcluded that ‘there is nothing to equal it since the building of Venice’ (citedin Little 2002, 17). By this date, however, the heyday of the canal system asthe principal carrier of supplies for the textile industry had been eclipsed bythe railways, and whilst smaller, plain, manufacturers’ warehouses wereincreasingly common in the industrial towns of Lancashire during this period,very few new canal-side warehouses were built.

3.5 BACKGROUND TO THE LEEDS AND L IVERPOOL CANAL

3.5.1 Plans to construct a trans-Pennine canal between Leeds and Liverpool beganto be formulated in the 1760s. It was anticipated initially that the principalcargo to be carried on the canal would be limestone that was required as afertiliser and also for building construction, which demanded large quantitiesof mortar and lime-wash. The proposed course of the canal was thus intendedto pass through limestone areas, taking a route through Padiham, to the northof the River Calder, and continuing into the Ribble Valley near Clitheroe(Clarke 1994).

3.5.2 By 1777, sections from Leeds to Gargrave and from Liverpool to Wigan hadbeen opened, although a shortage of capital prevented any further progressuntil the early 1790s. In the intervening years, Lancashire had started tobecome industrialised and, realising the potential gains of connecting with theEast Lancashire coalfield, the canal promoters altered the proposed route topass through Blackburn, Burnley and continue along the Hyndburn Valley.This was to take a course into Accrington, crossing the Accrington Brookclose to the junction of Blackburn Road with Church Street, where it wasenvisaged that it could link with the proposed Haslingden Canal. However,this plan met with some objection from the Peel family, who was concernedthat the construction of a canal embankment across the Hyndburn Valley atthis location would interrupt the water supply that was crucial to the operationof their calico-printing works further downstream at Church Bank.

3.5.3 In recognition of the Peel family’s powerful influence, a revised route for thecanal was proposed, which deviated some distance to the west of Accringtonto rejoin the original line at a right-angle junction in Church. It was at thisjunction that Thomas and Robert Hargreaves erected their warehouse in 1836,some 26 years after this section of the canal had been completed.

3.5.4 The construction of the canal around Church demanded numerous engineeringsolutions to achieve the successful crossing of many streams and rivers in thearea. However, in 1816, the canal was finally completed for its entire lengthbetween Leeds and Liverpool, and immediately became a key factor in thegrowth of industry in East Lancashire.



3.6 DEVELOPMENT OF HARGREAVES’ W AREHOUSE

3.6.1 There is very little primary documentation pertaining to Hargreaves’Warehouse, the principal source of information being derived from thesequence of published historical mapping. The warehouse was erected in 1836by Hargreaves, Dugdale & Company, and was probably intended as a cottonstore for Broad Oak Mill in Accrington (Rothwell 1993, 59), which wasestablished in 1834-7 and operated in conjunction with the company’sprintworks at Broad Oak (OA North 2010). It was the first canal-sidewarehouse in Church, with other warehousing facilities in the vicinity beingestablished on Bridge Street by B & R Walmsley in 1848, and subsequently bythe Canal Company on the site of the Church Lane Chemical Works (Rothwell1993, 59).

3.6.2 In the absence of a tithe map for Church, the earliest detailed plan ofHargreaves’ Warehouse is provided by the Ordnance Survey first edition 6”: 1mile map, which was surveyed in 1844 and published in 1848 (Plate 4). Thisshows the warehouse to have an L-shaped plan, and contiguous with theCommercial Inn, which occupies the corner of Blackburn Road andCommercial Street. A small rectangular building is shown on the canal bank inthe north-western corner of the warehouse yard. The map also annotates theposition of a crane on land adjacent to the canal, immediately to the north ofthe warehouse, indicating the use of the area as a wharf.

Plate 4: Extract from the Ordnance Survey map of 1848



3.6.3 Following the opening of the East Lancashire Railway line that connectedChurch and Accrington with Blackburn, Burnley and Manchester in 1848, thewarehouse was leased to various individuals before being taken over by theLeeds and Liverpool Canal Carrying Company (Rothwell 1993, 59).

3.6.4 The next available plan to show the warehouse is that produced by theOrdnance Survey, which was published as scales of 1:500 in 1892 (Plate 5),and 1:2500 in 1894. The footprint of the warehouse shown on the detailed1:500 plan is the same as that depicted on the map of 1848, comprising an L-shaped range. The principal block is aligned north/south, with the north gableend fronting immediately onto the canal. The east/west-aligned range is shownparallel and adjacent to Blackburn Road, with a covered entrance providingaccess from Blackburn Road to the canal. A detached building is shown in thenorth-western corner of the central yard, and the position of two cranes ismarked. The map also annotates the wharf on Commercial Street, which wassimilarly served by two cranes situated on the canal bank.

Plate 5: Extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:500 map of 1892

3.6.5 The Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company is listed as the occupier of thewarehouse in trade directories for the late nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies (eg Barrett 1878, 338; Barrett 1912, 857; Barrett 1915, 594). Thewarehouse probably ceased to be used by the Company in c 1921, and theproperty is not listed in trade directories for 1930s or 1940s, suggesting that itmay have been vacant during this period. By 1951, however, it was occupiedby Church Motors Ltd, a local firm of motor engineers (Barrett 1951, 15).



4. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

4.1.1 The following section provides a brief description of the buildings based on arapid inspection of the surviving fabric. This information is intended solely toprovide a basis to assess the relative significance of the building and its visiblecomponent elements.

4.2 HARGREAVES’ W AREHOUSE

4.2.1 Hargreaves’ Warehouse is a stone-built, canal-side structure designed on an L-shaped plan, and is of three storeys plus an attic (Plate 6). The front and sideelevations, fronting onto Blackburn Road and Bridge Street respectively, arefaced with coursed hammer-dressed, watershot sandstone, and the dressings tothe openings are monolithic blocks. The other elevations are similarly ofwatershot sandstone, but are of rubble coursing. The roof is of Welsh slate,although it is likely that it would originally have been of locally quarried stoneflags.

4.2.2 The larger warehouse block is aligned north/south, forming the eastern part ofthe site, and incorporates storage areas on all four levels. The north gableelevation fronts onto the canal, and contains round-arched openings withprojecting stone cills, placed centrally at ground, first- and second-floor levels,whilst the attic has two window apertures with flat stone lintels and projectingstone cills (Plate 6). The gable elevation is restrained with steel tie rods andplates on the second- and third-floor levels (Plate 7).

Plate 6: The north gable elevation of the warehouse, fronting onto the canal



Plate 7: The north gable elevation, showing the Commercial Hotel to the left

4.2.3 The north-west corner of the gable is battered at ground-floor level, whilsttimber supports at second-floor level probably represent the former position ofa hoist (Plate 7). The west-facing elevation of the principal warehouse block,overlooking the central yard, contains four round-arched openings withprojecting stone cills at ground-floor level, which have been in-filled withcinder-block walls (Plate 8). Two further round-arched openings are placed onthe first- and second-floor levels at the north end. Two window apertures withstone cills and lintels are placed in the central part of the elevation at first- andsecond-floor level, with loading doors situated at the same levels at thesouthern end.

Plate 8: The west-facing elevation of the principal warehouse block



4.2.4 The south gable elevation fronts Blackburn Road is contiguous with a linkblock over the main entrance, and contains two regularly spaced windowapertures with stone cills and lintels on each floor level. The gable elevation isrestrained with steel tie rods and plates on the second- and third-floor levels(Plate 9). The eastern side of the block abuts the Commercial Hotel, whichwas built in 1834, two years earlier than the warehouse.

4.2.5 For the most part, internal areas of the principal block are open-plan withstructures spanning on external load-bearing walls. The upper floors areconstructed from timber boarding supported on the principal beams andsecondary joists in turn supported off load-bearing stonework and cast-ironcircular columns.

Plate 9: The south-facing elevation of the warehouse, fronting onto Blackburn Road

4.2.6 The south gable elevation of the smaller western block similarly contains tworegularly spaced window apertures with stone cills and lintels on each floorlevel. In contrast to the elevation of the principal block, however, it alsoincorporates two doorway apertures, both with plain stone surrounds (Plate 9).The north-facing elevation of this block, overlooking the yard, alsoincorporates a doorway aperture at ground-floor level, flanked on each side bya window aperture. The first-floor level contains three windows (Plate 10).The second-floor level has no window apertures, and whilst the attic level ispresently served with two windows, these are the result of unauthorised workscarried out in 2009, and are not original features (C Baker pers comm; Plate11). The stone-built chimney stack at the apex of this elevation is similarlylikely to be of recent construction, as this feature was previously of brick(Plate 11).



Plate 10: Current view of the north-facing elevation of west block

Plate 11: View of the north-facing elevation of west block in 2001 (courtesy of C Baker)



4.2.7 Internally, the western block contains partitions on the ground and first-floorlevel, which comprise a mixture of masonry walls and timber stud with latheand plaster finishes. The presence of these partitions suggests that these areaswere intended as office space and associated accommodation. This is furthersuggested by two doorways set in the south elevation, affording pedestrianaccess to the building from Blackburn Road, and the presence of cupboardsand a fireplace that exist behind modern cladding on the ground floor (Plate12). The presence of several other fireplaces within the western block istestified by a network of eight flues placed against the interior of the northgable (C Baker pers comm). These flues connected with a brick-built chimneystack on the apex of the gable elevation, and this has recently been reduced insize and rebuilt in stone (Plate 11). It seems likely that the second- and third-floor levels of the western block were intended to provide additionalwarehousing space.

Plate 12: The remains of a cupboard and fireplace surviving behind modern cladding in thewestern room on the ground floor of the western block (courtesy of C Baker)

4.2.8 The two blocks are connected via a short linking range with a window on thesecond-floor level, situated over a large central arch that provides access to thecanal wharf. The arch incorporates rusticated voussoirs, providing rarearchitectural embellishment of the building (Plate 13). The height of the archis likely to have been intended to allow access for horse-drawn carts ladenwith bales of raw cotton, but perhaps also reflects the grandeur of the buildingand the importance of the textile industry to the economy of the area.



Plate 13: Detail of the central arch and the linking range

4.2.9 The warehouse has dual-pitched timber roof structures based on traditionalpurlins and rafters supported off timber trusses built into the external load-bearing walls. The roofs were originally provided with traditional slatecoverings, which appear to have been fixed directly to timber battens andprovided with a lime-based torching to the underside. The roof structure formsgables to the northern and southern ends of the principal warehouse block, andto the north and south elevations of the west block. Throughout the building,the trusses are simple with timber collars fixed with steel clamps (Plate 14).

4.2.10 Within the principal warehouse block, cantilevered stairs affording access toeach floor are present in the north-east corner, and comprise stonework builtinto the external walls. The internal staircase in the western block comprises amixture of cantilevered stone, timber and metal.



Plate 14: The roof structure and crane in the principal warehouse block

4.2.11 The surface of the yard area to the rear of the Blackburn Road elevations isobscured by modern rubbish, although elements of historic stone surfacing arevisible.



5. ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

5.1 INTRODUCTION

5.1.1 This assessment of significance is not intended to be a definitive report onHargreaves’ Warehouse, and has been based on a rapid inspection of thebuilding, coupled with a review of the available documentary evidence andinformation provided from previous studies of the building and its environs.

5.2 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

5.2.1 Summary statement: Hargreaves’ Warehouse is a key building within theChurch Canalside Conservation Area. It is considered to be of GreatSignificance, with high evidential, historical, and aesthetic values, and makesan important contribution to the historic character and appearance on theChurch Canalside Conservation Area.

5.2.2 Evidential value: the main evidential value lies in the historic fabric of thebuilding, which provides a fine example of a canal warehouse dating to thelate Georgian era. It is also one of the few industrial buildings dating toChurch’s early nineteenth-century development as an important textilemanufacturing centre. The importance of the physical remains is strengthenedby the paucity of surviving primary documentation for the building, which isderived largely from historical mapping. The building retains its original fabricand, with the exception of the roofing materials that were replaced in 2007-8,appears to have been subject to no significant alteration or remodelling since itwas built, giving the building a high evidential value.

5.2.3 Historical value: the extant building has an historical illustrative value indemonstrating the design and layout of a late Georgian canal-side warehouse.Whilst other warehouses do survive along the banks of the Leeds andLiverpool Canal in Lancashire, Hargreaves’ Warehouse is of a slightly laterdate to other examples, and displays an unusual form. The building also has ahigh historical value in representing a key period in the development ofChurch as a textile-manufacturing centre of regional importance, and as atransport node and principal trans-shipment point during the second quarter ofthe nineteenth century for goods bound to Church, Oswaldtwistle andAccrington.

5.2.4 Aesthetic value: the size, scale and layout relative to the canal form keyelements of the design of the warehouse, enabling the whole composition to beviewed from Bridge Street and the canal towpath as a set piece. This attributeadds significantly to the perception of the listed building, its group value andsetting, although the present dereliction of the building and the rubbish thatlitters the yard are negative elements.

5.2.5 The historic character of the area is defined to a large extent by industrialstructures dating to the Georgian era, which are dominated by the canal, its



associated bridges, the Commercial Inn, and Hargreaves’ Warehouse, whichmakes a significant contribution to the character and appearance of theConservation Area. In this respect, the building has a high aesthetic value.

5.2.6 Communal value: the building has some communal value, not least embodiedin its association with the Hargreaves family, whose name is inextricablylinked to the development of the local textile industry.

5.2.7 In determining the value of Hargreaves’ Warehouse as a heritage asset, theSecretary of State’s criteria for assessing the national importance ofmonuments has also been considered (Department of Culture, Media, andSport 2010). These criteria relate to period, rarity, documentation, group value,survival/condition, fragility/vulnerability, diversity, and potential.

5.2.8 Period: Hargreaves’ Warehouse, together with the Commercial Hotel that issituated immediately adjacent, date to the late Georgian period. The origin ofthese buildings is linked closely to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the formerwharf on Commercial Street, and the turnpike established by the Accringtonbranch of the Bury, Haslingden, Blackburn and Whalley Trust (the modernA679), which are similarly of Georgian date. This period represents thegenesis of Church’s development as an industrial settlement, based largely onthe textile industry and ancillary trades. The warehouse was the first buildingof its kind in Church, and represents a legacy of the town’s evolution anddevelopment, making a significant contribution to the area’s strong local andregional identity.

5.2.9 Rarity: Hargreaves’ Warehouse is one of several canal-side warehouses thatsurvive along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the majority of which areafforded statutory designation as Grade II listed buildings. These include arange of different types of warehouses, spanning a period of at least 70 years.Amongst the earliest are the four-storey Leeds Warehouse, built by the Leedsand Liverpool Canal Company in 1777, and the three-storey Gibson’sWarehouse in Wigan, which was also erected in 1777. A different style ofcanal-side warehouse is represented by those on Manchester Road in Burnley,which comprise three principal three- and four-storey blocks erected in 1796-1800 and 1841-4, with a third block built in the mid-nineteenth century. Adistinctive feature of these warehouses is the large gabled awnings over theground floor, a characteristic that that is also incorporated into the design ofthe three-storey warehouse on Eanam Wharf in Blackburn, which wasconstructed in c 1820. Smaller canal-side warehouses survive at Enfield Wharfin Clayton-le-Moors, built in 1801-2, and at Foulridge Wharf, erected in 1815.Both of these are two-storey structures, with another mid-nineteenth-centuryexamples surviving at Dugdale Wharf in Burnley.

5.2.10 All of these other warehouse comprise a linear range built parallel to the canal,in contrast to the L-shaped plan adopted by Hargreaves’ Warehouse, with itsgable end fronting directly onto the canal. In this respect, the unusual planform of Hargreaves’ Warehouse has a high rarity value. It is also a relativelyrare example of a canal-side warehouse dating to the 1830s.



5.2.11 Documentation: there is very little primary documentation for the nineteenth-century development and use of the warehouse, the principal source ofinformation being derived from the sequence of published historical mapping.The paucity of documentation increases the importance of the surviving fabricof the building.

5.2.12 Group value: Hargreaves’ Warehouse has a high group value with the canal,the Grade II listed bridge on Bridge Street, and the former wharf onCommercial Street, forming an important assemblage of canal architecture.Walmsley’s Warehouse, a locally listed building on Bridge Street dating to1848, may also be added to this group. Hargreaves’ Warehouse may also beseen to have a group value with the Commercial Hotel of 1834, and theturnpike. It has a high group value with other textile-manufacturing sites in theConservation Area, which include Bridge Street Mill and Walmsley’sWarehouse on Bridge Street, and Church Kirk Mill and the Church Bank Millfurther to the north.

5.2.13 Survival/Condition: the warehouse survives almost entirely intact, and theoriginal Georgian structure appears have been subject to remarkably littlealteration or remodelling. The only significant loss is the detached buildingthat occupied the north-western corner of the site which, based on cartographicevidence, was demolished during the 1980s. It is likely, however, that thefoundations of this building may survive as buried remains. Other elements ofthe site that have been lost include the two cranes that are shown on historicalmapping, although again the bases of these structures are likely to survive.

5.2.14 The warehouse has been subject recently to a building survey that wasintended to identify the general standard of repair of the main buildings,structure and fabric. The resultant report concluded that the warehouse is inreasonable condition, whilst acknowledging that it contained certain structuraldefects that require remedial works to reinstate the building to a structurallysound property (GVA Grimley 2004).

5.2.15 Fragility/Vulnerability: the warehouse has been vacant for some time, and hasbeen allowed to deteriorate. As a vacant property, it is considered to bevulnerable.

5.2.16 Potential: the only potential for buried archaeological remains on the site liein the north-western corner of the yard, where the foundations of the canal-side building depicted on historical mapping are likely to survive.



6. CONCLUSION

6.1 CONCLUSION

6.3.1 The Hargreaves’ Warehouse has a particular heritage value as a rare exampleof a canal-side warehouse dating to the mid-1830s, and contributessignificantly to setting of the Church Canalside Conservation Area. It shouldbe viewed as an asset and potential catalyst for heritage-led regeneration in thearea. Any future proposals for the development of the site should beaccompanied by an appropriately detailed assessment of the impact of thoseproposals upon the historic interest of the building and its setting, with apresumption in favour of the preservation and enhancement of the structure. Inparticular, the retention of the north-facing elevations and the yard as an openarea are especially important to the historic character of the canal.

6.3.2 In addition, a detailed archaeological survey of the building, commensuratewith an English Heritage Level II-type survey, is likely to be required as acondition of Conservation Area Consent to any proposals for development.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES

Manuscript Maps

LRO DDPt/25 A Plan of Clayton le Moors and Church in 1785 showing the manorsand royalties of which, together with the greatest part of the estates are in thepossession of Robert Edward Lord Petre

Published Maps

William Yates Survey of the County Palatine of Lancaster, published 1786

Ordnance Survey first edition 6”:1 mile map, Sheet 63 (survey 1844, published 1848)

Ordnance Survey first edition 25”:1 mile map, (published 1894), Sheets 63:14

Ordnance Survey second edition 25”:1 mile map, (published 1911)

Ordnance Survey third edition 25”:1 mile map (published 1931)

Ordnance Survey Soil Survey of England and Wales (1983)

Trade Directories

Barrett, P, 1878 General and Commercial Directory of Blackburn, Preston andDistrict, Preston




Mannex & Co, 1854 History, Topography and Directory of Mid-Lancashire, Preston

Newspapers

Manchester Times 22 December 1893



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ILLUSTRATIONS

L IST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Site location

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